Vegan Recipe of the Week - Iced Cinnamon Rolls

I don't know about you but to me nothing beats a warm sugary cinnamon smell of baking on a cold January morning :-) I love cinnamon rolls and wanted to veganise them, so here is my recipe. I tried these out on non-vegans and they couldn't tell! Winner!

Makes 12-16 Rolls

Ingredients:

350ml non dairy milk - I used organic unsweetened soya milk

1 1/2 Tbsp cyder vinegar

60ml tepid water

14g instant dried yeast

2 Tbsp of melted vegan butter

60ml light rapeseed oil

540g plain flour

1 tsp of sea salt

300g light brown sugar

115g vegan butter, softened

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

Frylight

For the icing:

Sieved Icing Sugar

Tepid Water

Method:

In a saucepan, combine the soy milk and cyder vinegar and leave for 15 minutes to sour. This will make your buttermilk.

In a mixing bowl dissolve the dried yeast into the tepid water and also leave for 15 minutes until creamy.

Heat the buttermilk gently and add the melted butter and rapeseed oil, stir and take off the heat when warmed through. Then pour this mixture into your mixing bowl with the yeast/water mixture and stir well.

In another mixing bowl sieve the flour, salt and bicarb, then add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly and combine until the mixture forms a dough. Lightly knead the dough and then leave the dough in the mixing bowl with a clean tea towel over the bowl for 20 minutes to prove.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining vegan butter, then add the sugar, vanilla paste and cinnamon to make your cinnamon filling.

Lightly flour a worktop and turn out your dough. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a large rectangle shape. Spread your cinnamon filling over the top of the dough and then roll into a log, pinching the dough at the end to seal the filling.

Cut the log into 12-16 discs around an inch thick and place onto a greased baking sheet. I just spray mine with Frylight.

Cover the tray with a tea towel and leave to prove for another 40 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C (180C Fan).

Bake the rolls in the oven for around 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove and leave to cool for 10 minutes before icing.

In a small dish sieve icing sugar and add tepid water a little at a time to make a thick, but pourable water icing. Drizzle the icing liberally over the cinnamon rolls and leave to set.

Eat and Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share with friends or on social media. Let me know if you make the rolls in the comments below and click here for more of my tasty vegan recipes.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Crackers

In January, thoughts often turn to healthier alternatives and lighter meals after all of the festive fancies. One of my favourite light lunches or snacks are crackers with salad. There are many vegan-friendly crackers available at the major supermarkets, here are some of my favourites:

Jacobs Cream Crackers

Despite the name, these crackers contain no cream and no other dairy for that matter. They are delicious with vegan cheese, pate, salsa, and pickles.

Ritz Crackers

These are the little salty crackers of my childhood, perfect with vegan cream cheese and cucumber.

Milton’s Baked Crackers

These are a new cracker to come to the UK supermarkets. They are a Canadian brand. They produce a range of flavours and these crackers are lower fat, all natural ingredients and baked to perfection.

Jacobs Flatbreads

These come in a range of tasty flavours, and are great to use with dips such as hummus, cashew sour cream and chive or salsa.

Ryvita Thins

These are delicious served with dips like guacamole, salsa and hummus or spread with vegan cream cheese or pate.

Please note not all flavours of these brands are vegan. Please check the ingredients labels. A few of the flavours contain milk powder and some contain honey, but all of these brands have vegan-friendly flavours in their ranges.

Here's how I serve my crackers:

Which crackers are your favourites? Leave me a comment below. Come back tomorrow for a brand new Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of Week - Puff Pastry Parcels

Yesterday I wrote a review of Jus-Rol pastry, so to tie in with that, this week's recipe is great for using left over pastry after making a pie.

Puff Pastry Parcels

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Puff pastry offcuts
Marmite (optional)
Tomato Puree
Garlic Salt
Vegan Mozzarella (grated)
Vegan milk for brushing (unsweetened)
Frylight

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Roll the pastry offcuts out to around the thickness of a pound coin.

Cut out a square around the size of a A5 piece of paper and then cut in half diagonally leaving two triangles of pastry. Repeat this process so you have four triangles of pastry.

Spread two of the triangles with tomato puree and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Spread the other two with a thin layer of Marmite. (If you don't like Marmite, make all four using the tomato puree and garlic salt)

Sprinkle grated mozzarella (I used Cheezly) over all four triangles and then gather the three corners up to the middle and pinch together to form a parcel.

Spray a baking sheet with Frylight and place all four parcels on the sheet.

Brush them with any unsweetened vegan milk and chill in the fridge for ten minutes.

Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for around 18-20 minutes until golden.

Serve as a starter.

Eat and Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please click here to see all of my other recipes.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Jus-Rol Pastry

This week on TOV, I am sharing one of my fridge staples. Jus-Rol pastry comes in blocks of puff pastry, shortcrust pastry and filo pastry. It also comes in ready rolled sheets, both of which can be kept in the fridge for around a week. You can also buy the pastry from the freezer cabinets in the supermarkets or freeze the chilled pastry yourself. The pastry is labelled suitable for vegans and is Vegetarian Society approved also. 

I find this pastry so versatile and it is great for baking tarts or making a quick pie for dinner. You can use it for sweet and savoury dishes. Jus-Rol is sold in all major supermarkets and many smaller grocery stores. It sells for around £1.50 per packet but is often on offer for £1 or 2 for £2.

Here are some of the dishes I have created using the pastry:

Puff Pastry Pizza

Puff Pastry Parcels

Vegetable Pot Pie

Mince Pies

Mince Pies

Mince Pies

Vegetable Pie

Lattice Mince Tarts

Jam Tarts

Come back tomorrow for a recipe using the Jus Rol puff pastry.

Let me know what you use your ready-made pastry for in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Guest Recipe from Little Miss Meat-Free

For the first Vegan Recipe of the new year, I am very honoured to have a contribution from Little Miss Meat-Free (aka Katy). Katy is a passionate vegan home cook who enjoys creating dishes for family and friends. She also shares vegan recipes on the blog Little Miss Meat-Free. After living in south London for a few years, she has now returned to Yorkshire. You'll find Katy driving around in her beloved 'Mini' or baking a cake in her small kitchen. 

Katy's blog can be found at:

 

http://littlemissmeatfree.blogspot.co.uk

or you can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Lilmissmeatfree

Borlotti Bean Bake with Winter Herb Dumplings

Nothing beats the aroma of winter herbs baking in the oven. Team this with seasonal vegetables and savoury borlotti beans for a true ‘comfort-food’ experience. Serve straight from the oven with fresh crusty bread.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the bake:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large potatoes, cubed

1 onion, chopped finely

3 carrots, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 celery sticks, chopped

400ml water

1 tin Borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp salt

½ black pepper

For the dumplings:

200g white plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried sage

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp thyme

250ml soya milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a large casserole dish, add the oil, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic and celery and cook over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
3. Pour in the water and Borlotti beans. Stir in the cornstarch. Add the paprika, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and black pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
5. In the meantime, prepare the dumplings. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sage, rosemary and thyme in a bowl. Make a well and stir in the soya milk until it forms a thick dough.
6. Place tablespoon sized amounts of the dumpling dough on top of the casserole. Place the lid on the casserole dish and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Little Miss Meat-Free

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For more of my recipes, click here.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx